Willamette University Professor Steven Green will discuss the "The Manufactured Conflict between Marriage Equality and Religious Freedom" from 12:45 to 2 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, in Room 007, Oakes Hall, at Vermont Law School. The event is free and open to the public and press.
In his talk, Green, a former VLS professor, will draw on recent court cases and national publicity surrounding the conflict between marriage equality and religious conscience claims.
"We are pleased to welcome Professor Green back to Vermont Law School," said Vice Dean Jackie Gardina. "And look forward to his discussion of the highly publicized conflict between marriage equality and religious conscience claims, a conflict that has been exacerbated by tensions inherent in the U.S. Supreme Court's Obergefell v. Hodges and Burwell v. Hobby Lobby decisions. We hope the public will join us, as we are confident Professor Green's talk will inspire lively dialogue on issues related to marriage equality."
In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2014 that requiring family-owned corporations to provide insurance coverage for contraception for women under the Affordable Care Act violates federal law protecting religious freedom—a decision that fueled supporters of state religious freedom bills in the fight over marriage equality. A year later, in Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry, legalizing marriage equality in all 50 states.
Green teaches constitutional law, First Amendment, legal history, jurisprudence, criminal law, and American religious history, and directs the interdisciplinary Center for Religion, Law and Democracy at Willamette. He has extensive litigation and appellate experience in First Amendment law on issues such as school prayer, public funding of religious institutions, public religious displays, religious discrimination, religious free exercise, and freedom of speech. The U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts have cited his work.
Green is the author of "Inventing a Christian America: The Myth of the Religious Founding" (Oxford University Press, 2015) and "The Bible, the School, and the Constitution: The Clash that Shaped Modern Church-State Doctrine" (Oxford University Press, 2012), and currently is writing a book on church and state in the mid-20th century.
For more information about Green's lecture and other Vermont Law School events open to the public, visit vermontlaw.edu/news-and-events.
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